Closure
by Buridanical State
Summary: Sometimes a dream isn't only a dream, and sometimes goodbye isn't only goodbye.


**I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or its associated characters.**

Note: Thoughts are in _Italics. _

_**Closure**_

A gentle hand brushed away strands of gold, fingers dancing over boyish features and amusedly smoothing the deeply furrowed brow. He laughed to himself. _Intense even in sleep. Really Ed, do you ever stop thinking? _The sound of fabric rustling as Ed shifted in his sleep, his back now turned to the figure at the side of the bed. A detached smile played on his lips as he remembered the first time he met the Fullmetal Alchemist. _Well, you weren't 'Fullmetal' yet, but I knew you would be soon enough. _The first warmth that he'd felt since he'd arrived in this place spread throughout his being as he was filled with bittersweet nostalgia. _No tears_, he reminded himself, remembering the reason for this little visit. _Closure. I just wanted to see them one last time._

Dark eyes misted over as the man's fingers trembled and slid away from the warmth beneath them. _Goodbye Ed. _"Goodbye." The boy stirred a bit, brow further creased as he mumbled incoherently. The man stared down at Ed's profile as he seemed to be turning to address him, eyes still closed, breathing deep and calm. He couldn't help but to smile. "Goodbye," the man repeated.

"Mmh…don't go."

"I have to," a whispered reply.

"Why?"

"Because I have no choice. I came to say goodbye, Ed."

It took Ed a moment to respond this time, and he wondered if that would be it. But the late reply came out quiet and child-like, almost heartbreakingly so. "But I don't want you to go. I need you here." Too much, this open revelation of need, too much to hear without tears. _Oh, kid._ His fingers ran through the blonde locks and rested once again on the kid's cheek, brushing it gently in a gesture of comfort, as a father might do to soothe a small child. "You don't need me around. You'll have Al and Winry, the friends that you've made, the people who you've helped. You've even grown on Roy a little." Ed's face flashed angry and disgusted momentarily as he mumbled harshly, "Colonel…jerk." The less than subtle reminder of Ed's opinion of Colonel Roy Mustang lent levity to a humorless situation. Ed always could make him laugh, whether he meant to or not.

"I'm so proud of you, Ed. I want you to know that. I don't have to tell you to take care of Al, but take care of yourself as well, okay?"

"Okay."

"I have to go now."

"Will we see you again?"

Another distant stare, tinged with sadness and then ghosted with a hopeful smile.

"You know, I think you will." _Goodbye, boys._

He arose from the bed, walking over to the closed window. He touched the window pane, looking out over the frozen terrain. Winter was nearing its end. Soon the ground would thaw, and blades of green would push their way through the ice. The Snowdrops would bloom, the first signs of beauty after the bleak days of winter, delicate buds shaking off the last traces of frost. He closed his eyes and pictured a bouquet of them, stems gathered and enclosed by tiny hands. Her favorite blue dress would be caught up in the wind as she ran back toward their home, her face beaming as she presented the flowers to her mother. The cold night air brought him back to this room, this reality. And looking over his shoulder one last time, he made one last request. "You boys make sure to drop in on your little sister from time to time, okay?"

Ed awoke to the sound of his brother's voice and the feel of incomprehensibly gentle metal hands.

"Brother…Brother, wake up."

"Huh? What is it, Al?"

Even with the unmoving steel that served as Al's façade, it was amusing how Ed could somehow always see the emotion written on Al's face just as surely as if it had been carved in flesh. Right now, there was a look of concern.

"You left the window open. Aren't you freezing?"

"Uh…yeah. I am cold. Thanks, Al."

Ed got up from the bed, wrapping the blanket around his body, and went to close the window. "Hmm. Wind must've blown it open." Ed grinned broadly.

"Al, you could have just closed it yourself. You didn't have to wake me up. Don't tell me you got scared or something." Al seemed to avert his gaze for a moment.

"You were talking in your sleep. I figured you were having a bad dream, so I woke you up." Ed laughed. "That's funny. I don't even remember dreaming."

A few seconds passed before Al's voice came out small and tremulous.

"Brother…you kept repeating a name: Elysia."

Ed's expression darkened as he held the blanket close to himself and pressed his head against the widow pane.

"You don't remember anything about your dream?"

Ed's lips pressed together in a thin line.

"No. But I've had this real bad feeling all day. Like someone is trying to tell me something, but I don't know what."

"You think something bad has happened?"

Ed thought about it for a second before turning back toward Al and laughing off the suggestion.

"Forget I said anything, Al. I don't believe in that kind of stuff anyway. Let's just go back to bed."

Al nodded. "You're probably right, but…"

"But?" Ed prompted.

"But it's kinda strange that you're dreaming about Elysia all of a sudden, and you looked…disturbed."

Ed sat down on the bed and threw his hands up in a dismissive manner. "Dreams don't mean anything, and besides, it couldn't have been that bad if I don't even remember what it was about."

"You have a point."

Ed flopped back onto his pillow, tucking his hands behind his head.

"On second thought, Al, it probably _was _a nightmare. I'll bet it was Hughes with a whole photo album of vacation pictures, or Elysia lost a tooth and I had to sit through a frame by frame account of her first trip to the dentist."

Al laughed as he crawled back into his own bed. "That _is _scary."

"Still," Ed mused, "we should try to visit when we get back to Central. It'll be nice to see a few friendly faces for a change."

Al smiled inwardly as he turned out the lamp. "We are Elysia's honorary big brothers after all."

"Yeah. It's kinda nice. Even if we have to put up with a doting daddy. I guess, in a weird way, we do have a family back home. Goodnight Al."

"Goodnight Brother."

_**End**_


End file.
